Propellent powder and process of making same



oarnso STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE I. B. HEN'N'INGv OF WILMINGTON. DELAWARE, ASSIGNOR TO E. 1.1!!! FONT DE \TEMOURS Gt COMPANY. OF WILMINGTON. DELAWARE, A. CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

PBOPELLENT POWDER AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

No Drawing.

T a!!! av/mm, it may concern:

to it known that, l, ('LARENCE I'. B. "EN- man, a citizen of the l nited States, and a resident of Wihnington, in the county of Newt Castleand State of Delaware, have invented a certain new and useful Propellent Powder and Process of Making h'ame, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to propellent powder compositions containing I constituents capalile of couliteractin metallic fouling, and to a process of mu ting such compositions.

The cause of metallic fouling. for which I have been successful in finding a rcmcdy. may be briefly explained as follows: The introduction of breech loading in arms ot all kinds led to giving rotation to the projectile by means of ritiing with twists. As the chamber of the gun is larger than the bore, the projectile is provided with a soft metal hand. usually of copper. When the combustion of the propcllent powder causes the projectile to move forward. the bands of the projectile which conform in shapc to the section of the riiling. assure the proper rotation to the projectile. .\s the band completely lills tlic cro s section of the bore it also serves as a chi-ck to prcvcnt the e capc of gas past the projcctilc and in addition it serves to centt'l'dlu' projwtihin the honand to determine a fixed po ition of the projectile hhcn rammcd in the gun. li iuri'iig the passage of the projectile through the bore of the gun the coppcr from the band "fuses with the steel of the borc of thegun. due to the high tci'npcrature. This fouling of the bore of the gun is usually referred to as metallic fouling and thc arnollnlincreases very rapidly as additional rounds are tired in the gun and sfloll reaches a point where the accumulated mctallic fouling seriously ali'ects thcaccurinol' the gun and also l'cduccs thc diamctcr of the bore of the gun to a point where the continued usc of the gun is very dangerous because of developing too high pressure. It is. therefore. neccssal aftcr a rfilatively small number of rounds have been fired to either rchore or rclinc the gun. V i

I have, previously explained in my application Serial No. 319.4%. the .si-riou effect 015 metallic fouling upon thg'zm-uracy lifc of a gun or rifle. and have described and claimed therein the incorporation in the Specification of Letters Patent.

7 atented Nov. 2, 1920.

the usual amount occurring when using powder without the addition of a metal or alloy. l 'urthermore, the smaller amount of metallic t'ouling which is formed in the bore of the rifle or gun will be found to be more uniformly distributed in view of the fact that the metal or alloy is uniformly distributed throughout the propellent powder. This more uniform distribution of the metallic fouling in the bore of the gun taken with the smaller amount of metallic t'ouling formcd decidedly improves the average accuracy of the gun or rifle and greatly prolongs its useful life. in addition to the material reduction in the amount of metallic fouling it has also been found that the muzzle [lash is very much reduced, caused by the cooling cll'cct of the metal or alloy on the gases. or for some other reason.

I have now made the additional discovery that instead of using the lincly divided inclals or mixtures of metals. or alloys, that I can substitute for these. in whole. or in part. simple nictalioid (i. (a. nonmetal) derivatives. su h as the oxills or salts. of metals capablc of forming with the soft. metal of the projectile an alloy whioifdoes not adhere as tcnaciously to the bore of the gun at elevated tcnuu-ratlu'cs as does the soft metal alone. this decreased powder of adhesion being characteristic usually 'of an alloywhich is brittle at elevated temperaturcs.

V.\l new propellcnt compositions'and a process of making them may be illustrated by the following cxample:--- 4 The improved propc-llcnt powder. containing. prcfcrably in a finely.powdered condition. oxids or salts of metals. according to m invcntion. can be made by a proccss similar to thcusual process for making propcllcnt powdcr for small arms and ordnance. For cxamplc. sullicicnt wet llltl'flttllllloSt' to give l parts by wcight of nitrocellulose. which may be a mixture of nitrocellulose solublc in ctbcr-alcohol with nitrocellulose rclativcly insoluble in ctlu-r-alcohol. or may be a soluble nitrocellulose alone. is dehydrated with ethyl alcohol of approximately 95% by volume or 190 proof, by means of a dehydrating press, in order to displace the water. The excess alcohol is removed fro the nitrocellulose, leaving about 33part y weight of alcohol in the dehydrated nitrocellulose. To this is added a proximately (30% parts by weight of ethyl-at ier in a suit able mixing machine, preferably provided with brine refrigeration. -To the nitroce lulose and solvent in the mixer there may. be added one-half orkmbre, parts diphen amin or-..other stabilizer, with one to or more arts oi a metaloxid, uch as finely powdere tin *dioxid, together with other ingredients'if desired, such as nitrocompounds, graphite, etc. The composition is thoroughly mixed and colloided, which operation in th efmixer requires about 1} hour or more, (ll-:[J'B'Iidlllg on the etficiency of the mixer. After thorough mixing, the colloided composition is formed into preliminary blocks by means of a press. These blocks are then placed in a socallcd linislr ing press, and the composition pressed through dies into strings, which strings are i lanula ted by means of a cutting machine.

lie granulated powder is then placed for one or more days in solvent recovery apparatus to recover alcohol and ether, and then dried in water or air, to reduce the solvent remaining in the powder to a low amount. The powder is then air dried to remove e.\

' cess surface moisture and may or may not be glazed.

Although the oxid of t n has been specifically mentioned above as a suitable compound for incorioration in the powder to counteract metallic fouling, there may also be used various other oxids, or salts, or mixtures of oxids and salts, of those metals capable of forming with copper an alloy which is brittle at elevated temperatures. For example, there may be used? to advantage a mixture of ap )roximutoly equal parts by weight of tin d (lerivativeof lead, such as lead oxid or lead carbonate. Furthermore, the oxids or salts of the metals may be used in various combinations with each other or may be used in combination with the finely powdered metals or mixtures of metals or alloys as set forth in my U. S. application Serial No. 319.485, above mentioned.

My invention is furthermore, not limited to powder capable of overcoming the metal lic fouling in connection with projcctilcs having a soft metal band composed of cop per, but is also applicable to cases in which the soft metal blend comprises a substance othcr than copper either alone or in combination with copper. In any case whether the soft metal band consists entirely of co ape"- or not, the finely divided oxids or salts of mctals, or miittures of oxidsmnd salts with finely divided metal or metals, in-

ioxid with an oxygen mamas For instance in small arms and munitions,

bullet is jacketed with an alloy of copdnd nickel which according to usage m the-.Umted States is usually 85% copper ,and 15% nickel. My experiments indlcm that tin or tin oxid inoor rated in the owder is efficient in removing the fouling rom this cupro-nickelalloy, as well as. metallic copper foulin Th1s is particularly important because t e majority of military small arms cartridges contain cupro-nickel jacket bullets.

I claim 2- 1. The process of producing a propellent powder cap ble of counteracting the. metallicfouling of the bore of a gun ordinarily caused by soft metal carried by the projectile to be shot from said gun, which comprises incorporating in a pro ellent powder composition a finely sub ivided metalloid derivative of a metal capable of forming with said soft metal an allo which does not adhere as tenaciously to t e bore of the gun at elevated temperatures as does the soft metal alone.

2. The process of producing a propellent powder capable of counteracting the metallic fouling of the bore of a gun ordinarily caused by soft metal carried by the projectile to be shot from said gun, which comprises incorporating in a pro ellent powder composition a metalloid derivative of a metal capable of forming withsaid soft metal an alloy which does not adhere as tenaciously to the bore of the gun at elevated temperatures as does the metal alone.

3. The process of producing a propellant powder capable of counteracting the metallic fouling of the bore of a n ordinarily caused by soft metal carried y the projectile to be shot from said gun, which comprises incorporating in a propellant powder composition a finely sub-divided oxid of a metal capable of forming with said soft metal an alloy which is brittle at elevated temperatures.

4. The process of producin a propellant powder capable of counteracting the metallic fouling of the bore of a. gun ordinarily caused by soft metal carried by the projectile to be shot from said gun, which comprises incorporating in a propellant powder composition an oxygen derivative of a metal capable of forming with said soft metal an alloy which is brittle at elevated temperaturcs.

5. The process of producing a propellantcomposition a finely divided metal oxid substance comprising tin dioxid.

6. A propellent powder containing a metalloid dcr'ivative'of a metal capable of reducing metallic fouling:

7. A propellent powder containing in a finely divided condition a metalloid derivative of a metal capable of reducing metallic fouling.

8. A propellent powder containing in a finely divided condition an oxygen derivative of a metal capable of reducing metallic fouling.

9. A propellent powder containing in a finely divided condition an oxid of a metal capable of reducing metallic fouling.

10. A propellent powder containmg'uniformly distributed therethrough in a finely sub-divided condition a metalloid derivative of 'a metal capable of reducing metallic foulin 11. i propellent powder containing uniformly distributed theretbrough in a finely subdivided condition an oxid of a metal capable of reducing metallic fouling.

12. A; propellent owder containing uniformly distributed t ercthrough in a finely sub-divided condition an oxid of tin.

13. A propellent powder containing in a finely divided condition an oxid of tin.

14. A' propellent powder containing in a finely divided condition an oxid of a metal capable of reducing metallic fouling and an oxygen derivative of lead.

15. A propellent powder containing uniformly distributed therethroughin a finely sub-divided condition tin dioxid and an oxygen derivative of lead.

.16. A propellent powder containin from about 1 to 5% of a simple metalloid erivative of a metal capable of reducing metallic foulfin i propellent powder containing from about 1 to 5% of a material comprisin finely powdered tin dioxid.

18. A propellent powder containing from about 1 to 5% of a material comprising finely powdered tin dioxid and an oxygen derivative of lead.

19. A propellent powder containing, uniformly distributed therethlough in a finely divided condition, from about 1 to 5% of a. material comprising an oxygen derivative of a metal capable of reducing metallic fouling. I

20. A propellent powder containing, uniformly distributed therethrough in a finely divided condition, from about 1 to 5% of a material comprising lead carbonate and an oxygen derivative of another metalcapable of reducing metallic fouling.

21. A nitrocellulose explosive grain conta ining in a finely divided condition a. metalloid derivative of a metal capable of reducing metallic fouling.

22. A nitrocellulose ex losive grain containing in a finely divide condition an oxid of a metal capable, of reducing metallic fouling.

23. A nitrocellulose explosive grain containing in a finely divided condition an oxid of tin.

24. A nitrocelluloseexplosive grain containing uniformly distributed therethrough in a finely sub-divided condition tin dioxid and an oxygen derivative of lead.

25. A nitrocellulose explosive grain containingfrom about 1 to 5% of a material comprising finel owdered tin dioxid.

26. A mtrocel u ose explosive grain containing, uniformlydistribnted therethrough in a finely divided condition, from about 1 to 5% of a material comprising lead carbonate and an oxygen derivative of another metal capable of reducing metallic fouling.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CLARENCE I. B. HENNING. 

